history of diplomacy

It is unclear which Italian city-state had the first permanent envoy. In the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance period, most embassies were temporary, lasting from three months to two years. As early as the late 14th and early 15th centuries, however, Venice, Milan, and Mantua sent resident envoys to each other, to the popes, and to the Holy Roman emperors. At this time, envoys generally...